'Crazy' shark in Gulf of Mexico draws Florida beachgoers' attention

Thursday

Jul 11, 2019 at 3:30 PM

A shark was about 20 yards off shore at Okaloosa Island with its head out of the water, opening its mouth as it faced a line of people on the beach.

OKALOOSA ISLAND, Fla. — For 30 years, ever since she was a teenager, Mindy Hanback has been coming to the beach. She's always known there were sharks in the Gulf of Mexico, but Wednesday afternoon was the first time she actually saw one.

And it wasn't just cruising deeper waters. It was about 20 yards off shore with its head out of the water, opening its mouth as it faced a line of people on the beach.

"That was crazy," said Hanback, of Florence, Alabama, whose son, Matt Hanback, actually captured the moment on video. "You could hear everybody kind of gasp when it happened.

"I just thought it was a really cool part of nature, a neat experience," she added.

They were on the balcony of their condo at about 2 p.m. when they noticed everyone hurrying out of the water. That's when they saw the shark, which they were told was a bull shark. She said they watched numerous sharks in that area from around 2 p.m. until about 5 p.m.

Okaloosa Island Beach Safety Director Rich Huffnagle said sharks come through the area every year, and although they normally stay out past the second sandbar, they sometimes head closer to shore to fish. He said both bull and tiger sharks have been seen this season.

Huffnagle's guards are trained to get people out of the water until the sharks head back to deeper water. He confirmed that they'd been managing the situation the Hanbacks described.

"This is the sharks' home," he has his guards explain to beachgoers. "We'll let them have it until they're done with it."

He said the purple flags they have been flying lately to warn beachgoers for marine pests were about "infantile jellyfish," not sharks.

But those flags were replaced Thursday by double red flags as conditions from Tropical Storm Barry churned up the surf and caused rip currents. Double red flags close the Gulf to beachgoers.

Mindy Hanback said Wednesday's shark-watching stint would have been enough to keep her out of the water anyway. Her husband said he would have gone back in, but not as far out as they had been swimming before the sighting.

"We love the area," she added. "It won't keep us from coming back at all."